e Little River Review - Gorham High School!

Rosie
into the remnants of her fur some more. I was clinging to one of the most important parts of my
life, and I was about to lose her very soon. My parents �nally pried me o� her, and we got into
the car, drove the three minutes to the vet, and reluctantly walked inside. �ey didn’t make us
wait. Jessica, the tech who had known Rosie as long as I had, was watery eyed and hugged my
mother. We walked into the exam room, and made Rosie lay down on the blanket they had set
out. We had a few minutes before the vet came in, and you could tell from the look in Rosie’s eyes
that she knew. She slowly got up, and went over to my dad, gave him a short stare, and laid her
head on his lap, nudging his hand the way she always did to get petted. She stayed like that for
a few seconds, and then went to my mom, laying her head on her knee, and giving her the same
stare. She did the same for my younger brothers, giving each a knowing look, and a �nal few
seconds. It was as if she was saying goodbye to each one of us, telling us that it was okay, that she
understood. She laid back down, looking up at me from the blanket. I knelt down in front of her,
and she put her head in my lap, looking up at me through her cloudy eyes, and I just stroked her
head, telling her the truth, that she was a good girl, and that she would be okay soon. Her hips
wouldn’t hurt anymore, that she wouldn’t be blind, that the cancer and skin problems wouldn’t
keep bothering her. I just kept stroking her head, saying the same thing over and over again. I
gave her a few kisses, scratched her ears, and let her lick the tears o� my face. �e vet came in and
said that the �rst shot they were going to use was just to sedate her and would make her dizzy. I
held her head, but as the drugs began to work, she kept thrashing around, trying to shake o� the
dizziness. Just as I caught her face, she closed her eyes and settled down. I lay down with her,
holding her face in my hands and cried into her head for a long time, before my parents, both
crying, said that we should leave. I dragged myself away, feeling like I was betraying her somehow.
�e sel�sh part of me wanted to scream, “Stop! I can’t do this! We can stop now and let her sleep
o� the sedation and take her home” but the part of me that truly loved her did not allow it.
As we le�, I took one �nal glance into the room. She just lay there, sleeping, still on the
blanket. �e technician closed the door behind us, and that was the last time I saw my Rosie.
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